Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Death by Injury in 2013

Injury is a major cause of death in the United States. Unintentional injuries (accidents) are the 4th leading cause of death, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Add in the intentional injuries (suicides, homicides, executions, and combat deaths), and nearly 200,000 Americans died of injuries in 2013...

The role of accidents—as opposed to suicide or homicide—varies by type of injury. Among poisonings, fully 80 percent of deaths are accidental. Among drownings, accidents account for an even larger 84 percent. For falls, the figure is 97 percent. But accidents are a tiny share of firearm deaths—just 505 people died due to the accidental discharge of a firearm in 2013. The 63 percent majority of firearm deaths are suicides and 33 percent are homicides.

ABOUT ME

Demographer and editorial director of New Strategist Press, Cheryl Russell is the former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine and The Boomer Report. She has written numerous books about demographic trends. Ms. Russell is a professional demographer with a master's degree from Cornell University.